


Two large marine creatures that go bump in the night

by Quente



Category: Free!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Harry Potter Setting, Drabbles, M/M, and stuff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-09-15
Updated: 2014-09-22
Packaged: 2018-02-17 12:49:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 7,189
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2310191
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Quente/pseuds/Quente
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A collection of SouMako drabbles/short fic, previously published on Tumblr, with a healthy dose of pure crack.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

_Prompt: Soumako where Sousuke decides to confront Makoto like he did Haru because he lets Rin and Haru "distract" eachother. When he gets Makoto alone and tries to act scary though, Makoto is just kind and sweet like he always is because he's such an angel and Sousuke starts cracking and is like, "omg, I can't do this."_

_~_

Sousuke knew that his footsteps were heavy on the pavement next to the sports supply shop, heavy enough to ring against the alleyway’s narrow walls. He saw Makoto turn and stopped his steps, hands shoved far into his pockets, chin tipped down to hide his expression.

"Tachibana."

"Oh, there you are, Yamazaki-kun!"

Clearly oblivious to the affect Sousuke was trying to create, Makoto hurried closer. He had a bag clutched in his hand.

"Ah, sorry, I began shopping without you," Makoto said sheepishly. "They had new green-striped legskins and I just —"

"I didn’t come to shop," Sousuke said, his voice sharp.

"No? Ah? Then it’s really nice of you to come here and join me." Makoto smiled at him. "Rin and Haru are at the beach today, but I just…I didn’t feel up for it."

"That’s what I’m here to talk about." Sousuke furrowed his brow, trying to herd his thoughts again. Strange, just a few words from Makoto and he felt completely off track.

"Eh? Yeah? Well, let’s go get some lunch then. I’m always hungry lately, we’re training hard now that the pool is open again!" And with that, Makoto turned, striding right out of the alleyway and into the light, leaving Sousuke standing in the alley attempting to resist Makoto’s pace.

Makoto paused and looked back when he realized that Sousuke wasn’t following him. The light from outside of the alley made Makoto’s hair fluff around his head in some sort of halo, and he even reached his hand back in Sousuke’s direction. “Coming?”

That smile.

Rubbing his hand through his hair, Sousuke sighed. Geez, what was with this guy? He followed Makoto out of the alley, and Makoto touched his shoulder briefly.

"I know how you feel, though," Makoto said, sighing. "I was worried about Haru and Rin too, for a while. But we managed to patch it up, and they’re friends now."

"No, friendship isn’t the issue," Sousuke said, grabbing onto his point again and clinging for dear life. He was glad Makoto brought it up, because he’d almost been willing to let the issue drop. "It’s about Rin’s future. Nanase is distracting him from it."

Makoto turned, halting, his expression shifting to a serious one. “I’m worried about Haru’s future too.” He tilted his face up, staring at the clouds, letting his eyes travel far. “But don’t you think that out of anyone, those two will pull each other along?”

Sousuke didn’t bother to think much about Makoto’s words (even if they sounded right). Instead, he was caught by that expression, something halfway between sweet and yearning.

"A-and you?" Sousuke found himself asking. "What about your future?"

"Ah…" Makoto looked down. "I actually have a dream that I intend to follow. But I haven’t told anyone yet, and I should probably break it to … to Haru first."

Sousuke frowned. Why was everyone eternally fixated on Nanase? He felt exasperation rise in him and shifted to turn away from Makoto again.

"…You know, Yamazaki-kun, I think I will tell you," Makoto said quietly. "I think maybe you’d understand better than anyone else."

Sousuke froze when Makoto leaned over to speak quietly into his ear, and kept staring at him when he moved away again.

"Ah. Well. That — that totally suits you, actually. Good luck, Tachi… no. Good luck, Makoto."

"Thanks. I think I’ll need it…Sousuke." Blushing to his ears, Makoto grinned and turned. "Now. Let’s go eat! I feel so much lighter after telling you…you have no idea."

Sousuke, on the other hand, felt strangely heavy. Fingers gripping his shirt over his heartbeat, he watched Makoto’s back walking away from him. He pondered to himself that even if he’d returned to his hometown for the sake of Rin, he had the premonition that when he left, he’d be following that strong back wherever it might lead.


	2. At the siege of Minas Tirith

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Soumako LOTR please!

The gates of Minas Tirith were sundered, and the orcs poured in, trailing blood and filth behind them. Sousuke’s grief overwhelmed him, and for a moment he stood on the battlefield and stared at the sky. Above, the fell beasts circled, and their cries were of the domination of the world of men. Around him, the dense darkness before dawn was loud with the moans of the wounded, of the dying.

This was it — this was the end. Nobody came to the aid of Gondor, not even the long-awaited king, not even the Rohirrim from far away in the grasslands.

Still, Sousuke couldn’t let his spirit fail him. He was swordless. Casting around him, he found a slain guardsman. Whispering a quick apology he hefted up the sword, turning to head to the gates of his city. It was time to die, and he’d spend his life hewing down a fiend or two before an arrow caught him.

As he ran, he noticed something, though. There were shadows on the ground, cast long from the dying figures. The sun was finally rising on the agony of Minas Tirith, and it would be a red dawn.

But just then, beyond all hope, Sousuke heard the sound of trumpets ringing on the cliffs beside the city.

Trumpets? Sousuke paused and turned, staring up at the cliffs. More trumpets sounded, ushering in the dawn with the most beautiful music Sousuke had ever heard. Along the cliff were horses, battalions of them, poised for the downward gallop onto the field of battle.

One more trumpet and they were off. His heart caught in his throat, Sousuke watched them pour down the side of the steep hill and down onto the orcs below. The horsemen ploughed through the waiting pike-wielders like a wave through sand, trampling them into the grass of the field.

With the horsemen of the Rohirrim and the green banners of their houses came hope.

Feeling it renewed in his heart, Sousuke turned and ran toward the other battle front, desiring above all to fight beside these newcomers.

~

Later, hours later, Sousuke found himself on a hillock with a clutch of men. Some were his own companions from the guard of Minas Tirith, and some were men of the Rohirrim who through the misfortune of battle had lost their steeds.

The one beside Sousuke had a shock of fair hair and eyes as green as the grass of the fields of Rohan. They met each other’s gaze, taking stock of each other before Sousuke nodded grimly. This one was strong, and doughty, and would fight beside him until death took them both.

…And then, the man surprised him with the sweetest smile Sousuke had seen since the children were evacuated from the city.

"I am glad to fight beside you. Now you are my brother, for surely we will be born into our next lives together."

The man’s accent was strange, rolling and flavored with the hills of far away, but Sousuke couldn’t help but raise his fist in return.

"Brother, let us fight together. But now my soul does not long to join my comrades. Let us fight — and live to see the King enter the city."

The other man met his fist. Together they turned, and back pressed to back, and they warded off many foes. They were dangerous together, two men skilled with the sword, defending each other against wave after wave of torments, ever saving the other from arrow and axe.

Finally, after a time so interminable that Sousuke couldn’t properly count it, he saw from far away ships pull up along the river. They were dark ships, and for a moment his heart fell… but then he saw, unfurled, the banner of the king waving from the uppermost mast of the first ship.

Sousuke shouted, throwing his sword into the air and catching it again by the hilt.

"THE KING HAS COME!"

Before him, the orcs parted and turned, and southrons snarled their disapproval. From the boats a strange mist poured, and Sousuke’s wondering eyes saw host upon host of ghostly knights riding out into battle.

The man beside him quailed suddenly, gripping Sousuke by the arm while their foes were distracted.

"I — I have never seen the like of this. It is the men of legend, the ghosts from the Paths of the Dead."

"Do not fear. They aid us. See?" Sousuke put an arm around his companion’s shoulder, holding him close (despite sweat, despite blood, despite the gore of battle) to comfort him. "But now we are in the midst of war, my brother. Let us win back the city — save your fear for after the battle has ended!"

Rallying his spirit with the sound of Sousuke’s voice, the man took a breath and nodded, turning again to their own battle.

With the aid of the ghostly riders, it was not long at all before the field was cleared of their foes, save for the smoking heaps of the dead set to burn long into the night.

Standing side-by-side with what remained of their ragged band, Sousuke realized that he’d somehow survived. Both of them, beyond hope, to see the city regained.

"We lived, brother. What is your name?"

"Makoto — they call me ‘Iron Back.’" The other man looked just a little embarrassed, raising one hand to wipe a trickle of blood off his brow.

"I believe it," Sousuke chuckled. "I am Sousuke, of the guard of the city. Come with me, for you are now truly my brother, and I would offer you what food and healing I can, in what is left of my home."

They gazed upon each other then, in the light from the sun setting over the battlefield, and Sousuke felt his heart open and fill — with hope, and joy, and all the possibilities of a life after the war.

Makoto glanced at the encampment of horsemen on the edge of the battlefield, and then back at Sousuke.

"I will come with you, brother."

Smiling, they turned and walked together into the city.


	3. Nagisa ex Machina

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: _if you're still doing soumako prompts, would you consider writing one with sousuke and makoto being locked in a room together when the Iwatobi and Samezuka team are together for a party or something because Nagisa the little devil wants to play matchmaker and ohohoho, why not leave them alone in a confined space?_

The room was really small. Was it even a room? It was more of a closet. What did Haruka keep in here, anyway? Makoto shifted a little, foot hitting something. Ah, wow. He picked it up, the old purple basket from Haruka’s first bike. It was kind of ridiculous that Makoto remembered it.

"What’s that?" Sousuke asked from his position wedged on the window ledge. "Think they’ll let us out yet?"

Makoto blushed scarlet, cautiously standing. He was pretty sure he knew why Nagisa had locked them in here, and he was pretty sure that they weren’t going to be allowed out anytime soon, too. When he stood, he bumped Sousuke’s leg.

"Ah, sorry. This room is small for one of us, and with both of us in here…"

Sousuke just chuckled, reaching out to curiously catch the basket in his hand. “Bike basket?”

"Someone told Haru that it looked too girly, so he took it off. I think we were in fourth grade at the time." Makoto smiled, looking down at the basket. "Someone told me mine was girly too, but it didn’t bother me as much."

"Maybe because you’re the farthest thing from girly?"

Makoto noticed Sousuke’s eyes glancing down his body, and he felt the strangest twinge in his stomach as a result. Was Sousuke…checking him out? Ah, no, it couldn’t be. He was simply measuring the room’s space. That had to be it.

…The room was getting hot, though, so Makoto took off his outer button-down, leaving on his tank top. “I’m actually kind of girly,” Makoto admitted, chuckling. “I get scared easily. My friends all know that I jump behind them whenever there’s lightning. Also, I…”

Hm, nah. Makoto wouldn’t discuss his fear of the sea, the topic was too deep for being stuck in a closet with a semi-stranger he hadn’t seen in years.

"You remind me a bit of Rin, then," Sousuke said, chuckling. He shifted. The ledge next to the window was the only seat in the room aside from the dusty floor. "Rin cries at the drop of a hat, especially when he loses something. Come and sit. Unlike Rin, I don’t bite."

Makoto laughed again, eyeballing the space. There was plenty of room for two sets of narrow hips, but their shoulders? …Well, hm. It was worth a try, so he carefully wedged himself in. Their arms and shoulders were pressed together, and there was a bit of awkwardness about where to put the extra limb before Sousuke simply tucked his behind Makoto’s back.

"Er. Are you comfortable?"

Sousuke laughed and shrugged. “Lean back and enjoy.”

Makoto did, thinking that this was the one and only time he’d get a chance to snuggle into someone larger than he was. Relaxing back with a slightly embarrassed laugh, he felt Sousuke’s body supporting him easily, a frame large enough to lean on. A strange and purely animalistic reaction took place somewhere in Makoto’s body, but he pushed the thought firmly away. Enough thoughts about snuggling, no matter what kind of ideas Nagisa might have implanted in his brain hours before.

_”I think he’s the perfect guy for you, Mako-chan! He looks like he could pin you down and HOLD you there! Where else are you gonna find a guy like —”_

_"That’s enough, Nagisa-kun, you’re going to kill poor Makoto-senpai!"_

_"He’s probably not even gay, you guys! Not everyone is!"_

"Are you okay? You feel warm, all of a sudden."

"Ah — well, it is kind of warm in here." The room was getting warmer and warmer as they sat there. It was too small and airless to really support two big guys.

"So take off more clothes. Don’t mind me, we see each other in our suits often enough."

"That’s true," Makoto admitted. He bore it for a little longer, but when he realized that his sweat-soaked tank top was pressed against Sousuke’s arm, he broke down and stripped out of that, too. "I swear someone’s turned up the heat."

Sousuke started laughing again, and Makoto wondered if he knew enough about Nagisa to suspect that Makoto’s words might be true. “I’m going to take off clothes too, sorry,” Sousuke murmured. Stripping out of everything except for his briefs, he sat back at the window with relief. “MUCH better.”

Makoto removed his pants too, but hesitated before sitting back down. There was definitely something different about two mostly-naked guys curled up together. Something much less pure than just sharing a small seat with their clothing on.

"Oh come on. We’re both men."

…But, Makoto thought to himself, one of those men was gay. Should he let Sousuke know? Ah well. He sat down anyway, and suddenly — with the slide of naked flesh against muscle — things became a lot more real in there. Makoto couldn’t help canting an eye toward Sousuke’s briefs, only to find those sly and slightly downturned eyes glancing his way too. Mostly naked with Sousuke’s arm in back of him…

"I like your brand of underwear," Sousuke said, very conversationally. "It’s comfortable after swimming, isn’t it? Especially if you’re the type to shave."

Makoto couldn’t help gaping. “Ah — I — um — I don’t shave — over there. It’s natural. I mean.”

Sousuke laughed again, heartily. “Your blush is down to your nipples.”

"…" And now they were discussing Makoto’s nipples. Writhing in embarrassment, Makoto put his hands over his face, only to feel a warm hand on his shoulder.

"Relax. It’s okay. You’re safe with me, even if I am gay."

Wait. What? Did Nagisa KNOW? Damn, probably. Through Gou or something. Makoto’s mind turned in circles, and finally he figured out something to say. “That’s my line,” he said faintly.

"Oh."

And now they really WERE looking at each other, from the kind of close distance that was more like dropping a match onto wood than anything else.

The hand on Makoto’s back suddenly began stroking it again, but this time a lot slower, fingertips feeling the indentations of Makoto’s sore muscles.

"Mhh," Makoto gasped, involuntarily.

"Yeah," Sousuke agreed, and leaned forward…

"HEY GUYS SORRY ABOUT THAT, IT WAS A TOTAL MISTA — !" Nagisa cried out, opening the closet door wide and stepping in. "OH."

Startled, Makoto jumped back, tripping over the bike basket and falling into the pile of discarded clothing. “NO! It’s not that — I mean it’s just that we were hot and —”

"And we’ll be out in a little while," Sousuke said, standing to firmly press Nagisa back into the hallway. Then he closed the door and knelt down between Makoto’s legs. "Now. Where were we?"


	4. Of Snakes and Badgers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Harry Potter SouMako AU pls!

Haruka looked up from the food before him (disappointingly, for a study-abroad student, not mackerel) and down the length of the trestle table in the direction of Makoto’s gaze. The other table wasn’t dressed in gold and black (bee colors) like they were. That table was green and silver.

“Why are you looking at Slytherin?” Haruka asked, unable, for once, to read Makoto’s mind.

“Ah — sorry,” Makoto said, turning resolutely back to his plate. He stared down at the unfamiliar food and felt a lump of homesickness. It was nice to be part of the group invited to join Hogwarts for a month, but it was nothing at all like their sleepy wizarding town back home. The food was part of it — instead of being the comfortable fluffiness of rice and all the things that went with it, it was strange. Lumps of potatoes. Whole, boiled, round green things like tiny cabbages (what were they, anyway?).

“Makoto.”

“Sorry, Haru-chan. I keep getting distracted by all the new things. I’ve never felt like such a country bumpkin as I do right now. What is this vegetable?” Makoto pointed with his thick silver fork, wishing for a pair of chopsticks.

“Brussel sprout,” Haruka said calmly, and speared one with his fork. “Tasty. Even if it’s not mackerel. I might start adding it to mackerel. But you didn’t distract me from my question. Who were you watching?”

“It’s … I think some of our group from home got sorted into that table. See that redhead?”

Haruka blinked at the plethora of red-headed people that seemed to be at the red-and-gold table. “That one? The noisy one?”

“No — the other table. Silver and green.”

“Ahh. That one is Matsuoka Rin. He was sorted into Slytherin.”

“A-and the one next to him, with the eyes like Iwatobi harbor…”

Haruka fell silent for a moment, simply staring at Makoto.

Makoto realized how romantic he’d just sounded and cupped his burning cheeks with his hands. “Ah, no, I mean. It was just strange because it’s rare for a Japanese to have that color of…I mean, not that Matsuoka-kun’s eyes are any less…”

“Ah. I see. That one is Yamazaki Sousuke. He looks…” Haruka hesitated, then chose a word carefully. “Dangerous.”

“Eh?” Makoto blinked at him, a little foolishly. “That’s not the word I would’ve chosen.” His voice turned thoughtful as he turned his head again, staring at the boy with the dark hair contrasting with the craziest sea-colored eyes Makoto had ever seen. “He reminds me of home.”

~

“Who is that?” Sousuke asked Rin, ignoring the English boys at their table who were also not-so-subtly ignoring them. Fair enough, none of them were there to be best buddies, they were there to learn as much English magic as they could and get the hell out.

“Eh? How the hell should I know?” Rin replied, looking up from his food. He was eating it happily — it reminded him of his years in Australia, where he’d gotten used to thick cuts of meat beside chunked potato. The sear was just right, and the potatoes were nice and crispy on the outside, and soft on the inside. Baked, mm.

“Would you look first, idiot?” Sousuke replied patiently, nudging Rin and pointing carefully with his chin at the table of cheerful-looking idiots across from them, all dressed in gold and black. “That one. He keeps staring at us, his friend too.”

“He probably thinks you’re weird,” Rin said blithely, reaching to Sousuke’s plate with his fork to neatly snitch away a cut of meat.

“Oy, I need that more than you, shortly,” Sousuke growled, elbowing Rin again. Then he winced, feeling it again. That strange slither of pain down his nerve, shoulder to wrist.

Rin glanced meditatively at the other table and didn’t notice. “He does keep looking over. That dark-haired guy with the long lashes.”

“Not that one. The other one. The one that looks like…Winnie-the-Pooh, or something.” A sexy, sexy version of Winnie-the-Pooh, Sousuke admitted, but only to himself.

“Eh? Oh. No idea.” Rin shrugged, glancing at the dark-haired one long enough that he was caught looking. Their gazes tangled and meshed, and suddenly Rin couldn’t take the tension. He whispered a tiny spell and sent it over to the other table, nothing but a word made of fire that hung for a second between those two and then burnt out.

“Yes?” The word said, and meant So you’re looking and we’re looking back, what the hell do you want, pretty boy?

Sousuke tipped his forehead into his palm, sighing. “You really aren’t supposed to just —“

“Everybody at this table is doing it though,” Rin muttered. It was true. The guys next to them were busy quietly teleporting meat onto their own plates. “But look, that guy just rolled his eyes. And here, we have our reply.”

“Nothing.” Came the tiny word in response. It lingered between Rin and Sousuke on the table, a liquid and elegant handwriting that looked as if it was crafted from a twist of water, instead of Rin’s own fire.

“Crazy,” Rin whispered, fascinated, trailing his fingers through the word just as it evaporated out of sight.

Sousuke wasn’t watching, though. Instead, he’d glanced up in time to see the faint blush spreading across the Teddy Bear guy’s face. That guy was also hiding his eyes behind his hand, and it made Sousuke feel a twist of sympathy. So, they had annoying friends, which meant they had a LOT in common. Enough to get together and make out, right? So…

“Adorable,” Sousuke muttered, absently.

“Hey! I saw him first.” Rin’s teeth showed, pointy and competitive as ever.

“Not that one,” Sousuke said again, patiently. “You can have him. I think I’ll stalk Bear-chan, though. He’ll keep me entertained while I’m trapped here.”

“HEY. Japanese. Finish up, or there’ll be no time for dessert,” one of the guys at their table barked, and Rin glanced up, teeth still bared in a smile, suddenly remembering a spell that generated lizards under people’s pillows. Almost untraceable, too…

“Don’t get us into trouble before we’ve even been here a day,” Sousuke sighed, and turned once again toward his pile of meat.

~

The four were in the same classes, and quickly learned that the different houses didn’t often associate with each other. Slytherin made the most sense to Sousuke, though. Bent on their ambition to achieve, they never really wavered, unless it was to make sure to firmly move someone out of their path.

Tachibana, however, kept stumbling into Sousuke’s path.

“Crap!” Makoto cried, as the plant he was attempting to turn into a pillow one day turned into a frog instead, hopping over Sousuke’s carefully constructed workstation and making a mess of it.

Sousuke’s attempt to glare failed, however, at the absolutely woeful look in Tachibana’s eyes. “It’s…fine,” Sousuke grumbled, looking away.

“Help,” Makoto said, softly and miserably, as his frog headed toward the door.

Almost without knowing he was doing it, Sousuke’s wand was up and out, and the frog was a plant again.

“Tachibana, go fetch your plant from the hall,” McGonagall-sensei said with a sigh, sending a sharp look at Sousuke, who met her gaze steadily. If this lady had an issue with him, he’d be more than happy to stand up for his actions. The teacher simply rolled her eyes to the ceiling and turned away, muttering something about snakes and badgers…odd.

Makoto scurried to do as she said, but as he passed Sousuke, he whispered quietly, “I’ll thank you before dinner tonight. Meet me outside the great hall, a little early.”

“You don’t need —“ Sousuke began, and then pondered that he wouldn’t mind having Makoto thanking him, not at all. “Yeah, sure. I’ll be there.”

~

They met, as promised, and somehow they were both early. Lurking in the background, however, were their babysitters.

“What’s he doing here?” Sousuke asked a little grumpily, eyeing Haruka’s form lounging against the wall.

“Ummmm…” In return, Makoto noticed Rin sitting with his chin on his fist on the steps behind Sousuke. “And him?”

“Ah — damnit. I told him not to come,” Sousuke said, forehead creasing. “Let’s lose these guys.” Gripping Tachibana’s wrist, he cast a quick spell on their feet. A few steps later, they were somewhere else entirely, possibly in one of the kitchen supply closets — unless the things in vats were strange beasts, in which case it hopefully wasn’t for the kitchen.

It didn’t matter, though. They were finally alone, their robes swirling together in a wash of gold and black, silver and green as they stood in the small space facing each other.

“Ah. Thank you, I didn’t know how to tell him not to come,” Makoto admitted, glad that his blush was hidden in the half-light of the closet. Sousuke’s hand was still on his arm, and it felt warm and comforting, somehow, even if it shouldn’t.

“You were going to thank me?” Sousuke stared down at Makoto, although not by much. They were almost of a size.

“I — I noticed your left arm, that you tend to favor it sometimes, when you think nobody’s watching.” Makoto’s voice went soft, embarrassed. “So…I had my aunt send me some of her ointment from home. It is for the sailors in our harbor, to heal joint and muscle injuries…here.”

Makoto drew a jar of the ointment out of an inner pocket of his robe, settling it into Sousuke’s palm.

For a moment, Sousuke stood speechless, staring down at the jar. This boy had noticed what his childhood friend had not? Granted, he’d taken a lot of pains to hide it from Rin… but still.

“Want me to…rub it on you?” Makoto’s voice was still hesitant, and Sousuke realized he still hadn’t said so much as a thank you.

“Y-yeah,” Sousuke replied, looking into Makoto’s eyes as he let his robe fall to the floor, and began to undo the knot to his tie.

“Let me help,” Makoto said, because Sousuke’s hand was full. He reached up and slid the knot of the tie loose, grinning a little, both out of slight nervousness and because the tie was actually a terrible knot job.

“What are you smiling about?” Sousuke tried to glare again, but it failed. Makoto was actually unbuttoning his shirt now, and he swallowed hard. Did the other guy have absolutely no self-consciousness at all? The brushes of those strong fingers against his skin as Makoto pushed his shirt off his bad shoulder were doing things to him.

“Hm? Just that you must go to a school back home that uses gakuran, or something. You’re bad at ties, aren’t you?”

“Your uniform has ties, eh?”

“Yeah.” Makoto took the ointment bottle back, focusing on the task at hand. He began to rub it onto the skin of Sousuke’s shoulders, wondering for a moment just how, exactly, this guy came to have this kind of build. He was built thicker than Makoto by just a bit, and a little taller too. “A-are you half European, perhaps? I’m used to being the biggest one anywhere except for here.” The feeling of Sousuke’s musculature was making his heart thump louder in his chest, and Makoto tried to fight the growing blush.

“It’s complicated,” Sousuke admitted, thinking about his family with a sigh. But more than that, a visceral haze of relief flooded through his body. He’d been unconsciously in pain all this time — and the ointment seemed to sink in like honey around all of the aching bits, healing, knitting, making him whole. It was enough to make his eyes swim with tears, and he didn’t even know why.

Makoto was smiling, though, giving his shoulder a critical gaze as his hands rubbed slow circles over the muscles. “It’ll take about a week, I think.”

“A week?” Sousuke gasped, thinking that several years of carefully hidden pain was being erased totally by this ridiculous — surprisingly talented — hot angel.

“Mhm. I don’t know anything much, but my family does know its herblore…” With a final gentle squish, the last of the ointment was on Sousuke’s arm, and Makoto drew up Sousuke’s sleeve again.

“Tachibana…” Sousuke was at a total loss for what to say.

“Ah — yes. Thank you! And,” Makoto hesitated. “I suck at potions, and Haru-chan does too. If you don’t mind, can the four of us study together? He’s good at astronomy, oddly enough. We can pool our knowledge.”

Sousuke stared down at him, feeling his entire body wrapped up in a golden cloud. The soft touch and gentle voice and strong hands were hypnotizing him, and he couldn’t look away from those eyes.

“Say yes,” Makoto said, biting his lip.

“Yes. Wait. Did you compell me somehow?”

Makoto blinked. “No? But thanks for thinking I had the ability.”

A second after that, the supply closet became VERY crowded indeed as their two friends appeared there as if summoned.

“What are you doing to Makoto,” Haruka’s voice wasn’t a question so much as an imperative meaning stop, and he crowded close.

“Why is Sousuke’s robe on the ground?” Rin said suspiciously, his eyes going narrow as he turned to eye Makoto.

~

The study group proved to be a success, although Rin and Haru always argued. They were also the first two to kiss, although that is an entirely different story.

It took until the night before they had to return home for Sousuke to finally thank Makoto properly for the cure.

They’d found a niche high in the library, somewhere behind a trick door in a bookshelf, a Slytherin house secret. Sitting shoulder to shoulder, they stared down at the studying heads below.

“We finally lost those two,” Sousuke said with a sigh, leaning back. Although, to be honest, those two wanted more alone-time lately anyway.

“I was homesick, but now I’m not sure I want to leave,” Makoto admitted. “You’ve taught me more than I ever thought I’d know about potions…”

“I think,” Sousuke said, biting his lip. “I think that potions and herbology have more to do with each other than anyone thinks. You can’t have potions without ingredients…” He turned to look at Makoto, hoping that the other boy had caught his meaning.

“Oh?” Makoto’s cheeks were slowly turning redder — his ear, too.

“We should find a way to keep in touch, I mean,” Sousuke said quietly, and slid his fingers around Makoto’s wrist.

It was nice how still Makoto went when Sousuke touched him. But then, Makoto turned to give him the sweetest smile. “Finally, you said it.”

Speechless again, Sousuke stayed helplessly in place while Makoto turned, leaned close, and pressed a soft kiss to his cheek. “I thought the extra ingredient I added to that ointment hadn’t worked at all…”


	5. Sometimes he wishes for wings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Written for the “wings” prompt of the SouMako Network’s bingo. Set after Eternal Summer 11, so there are spoilers.

The second the words leave Makoto’s mouth, he knows that they’re a beginning and an end. Haruka’s face falls, a new, strange expression replacing what Makoto’s always seen and known. _An ending of how things are, the beginning of something else._ Makoto’s breaking his own heart too, and it’s as raw as the mark he’s made around Haruka’s wrist.

When Haruka turns to run, Makoto stays where he is, swaying against the railing overlooking the bay. The sky is suddenly dark, the fireworks over. Everything feels turned off, an ending with no beginning in sight. The pain is a merciless hammer in his head as Makoto rethinks every reluctantly spoken word… but in the middle of the moment, his pocket buzzes.

Makoto hesitates before reaching for his phone. He hopes it’s Haru, calling to say, “You were right, I need to swim, I’ll go get myself scouted,” or whatever it is that Haru wants from life. But instead, Sousuke’s name pops up.

[where are you now, makoto]

[thought you were home already]

[stayed for the festival]

Suddenly, staring down at the words on the screen, Makoto feels his heart beating again, strong and steady. He takes a breath, and then another, before he responds.

[join me? i am up at the torii.]

It’s scant minutes before Makoto hears footsteps, slow and measured, treading up the steps. Sousuke’s dropped face, one cheek illuminated by the lights of the town below, shows up first. Makoto doesn’t wait, though, striding to meet Sousuke at the top step.

His fingers twist in Sousuke’s jacket, and Sousuke brings a hand up to cup Makoto’s chin.

“You told him?” Sousuke’s voice is gentle, and so is his warm hand. Makoto presses his face into it, feeling the comfort washing over him. For a moment he wallows in it, letting the heat from Sousuke’s hands calm his heart, calm his voice until he can speak again.

“It slipped out. He’s been pushed a lot, by everyone, and I…I know him well enough to know that I’d be the last straw. He ran, Sousuke. I made him run…”

Sousuke’s arms wrap around him, sliding up his back with a deft touch that knows each and every muscle well. They only stop when they’re cupping Makoto’s shoulderblades, holding him pressed safely to Sousuke’s chest, their noses a breath apart. _His hands are where wings would grow_ , Makoto thinks, a fleeting whimsical notion before he pushes his nose into Sousuke’s neck. The smell is already _home_ and _safety_ and _want_. Wings, well, he wishes them for Haru even more than he does for himself.

“Did you tell him why?”

“I don’t think he wants to know yet. I’m working on that slowly.” Makoto laughs, but it’s shaky, and he knows that holding all the parts of his heart together depends entirely upon whether Haruka can find himself again.

“I hate the tie he has over the people I love.” Sousuke’s voice is rough and exasperated, his hands forming fists into the fabric of Makoto’s shirt, and Makoto laughs again.

“Some day I hope you’ll like him too. But, uh. Not like you like me.”

This time it’s Sousuke who’s laughing, and the comforting hug becomes something much warmer. “He’s not you.”

It’s still dark out toward sea, but when their lips meet, lights go off again in Makoto’s mind, illuminating the future — illuminating everything.

“He’ll come around. Or I’ll go smack him,” Sousuke mumbles, pulling back a little. “But —” Sousuke hesitates, and Makoto wonders why.

“Hm?” Makoto kisses the edge of Sousuke’s mouth.

“I think Rin’s got this one under control.”

* * *

_Prompt: Sousuke's birthday_

"Haru-chaaaan! Please teach me how to make a cake!"

"Makoto. Why do you need a cake?"

"No reason — er. Well. Okay, there’s a birthday …"

"It wouldn’t be … Yamazaki’s, would it? No way."

"Please, please! You know I can’t do it on my own."

"Makoto… stop looking at me like that."

"PLEASE!"

"…"

"I’ll fill up Ran and Ren’s inflatable pool for y —"

"Fine. Put on an apron. What’s his favorite type of cake?"

"Vanilla-straw —"

"We’re making chocolate."


	6. The things they do with hands

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I took drabble prompts on Tumblr today, and this was the result. (I take prompts over [here](http://showa-sensei.tumblr.com/ask), when the muse strikes me!)

_Prompt: "Hey, have you seen the...? Oh."_

"Hey, Nitori, have you seen the…? Oh.”

Everybody freezes. Sousuke, Nagisa, Makoto, Haruka, and even the fish. No, actually, the fish doesn’t freeze. It flops helplessly around the tile of the Samezuka pool looking extremely put out, until Haruka saves it by flipping it into the nice vat of salt water that they’d already prepared.

"It’s not what it looks like," Makoto says hastily, looking up the expanse of Sousuke’s swimsuit-clad body to his disapproving expression.

Sousuke opens his mouth, then closes it again, resembling the fish so exactly that Makoto has to bite his lip to keep from giggling.

"Sou-chan," Nagisa sings, sliding forward to hide the entire scene behind his slender frame. His hands (one holding the mesh scoop, the other, the plastic bag) are carefully hidden behind his back. "We didn’t expect to see you here at all, tonight!"

After a long, skeptical silence, Sousuke must realize that he’s being prompted to speak. “Ah. I’m helping Nitori train. So. What are you guys doing here, again?”

Makoto stands, pushing through his shyness and stepping forward for the sake of his friends, hunting quickly through his mind for a likely excuse. Sousuke’s near him now, and Makoto realizes (as he always does) that they’re of a height. No, Sousuke’s taller. Broader. His arms about the same thickness. His chest…

Oops. Eyes up. “Ah, we’re delivering something to Rin-chan,” Makoto says, and turns the full force of his smile on Sousuke.

Sousuke actually blinks, and Makoto can see Sousuke’s eyes taking a small tour of his own body. He unconsciously stands a little taller, maybe wanting to impress, just a little. (What is it about Sousuke that makes him want to do that, nowadays?)

"That can’t be right," Sousuke says, eyes diverted again to the vat containing the fish.

"He insulted mackerel," Haruka says unexpectedly, showing up at Makoto’s right side. "I couldn’t let him do that."

Sousuke blinks again, but this time his eyes narrow. “And so you brought a live one here, to…what?”

Feeling the situation spiraling just a little out of control, Makoto steps forward again, crowding Sousuke’s space, sliding his hand over the thick indentations of Sousuke’s upper arm. “Hey, not to distract you from anything, but do you think you could show me how you train your arms? Your swimming is so strong that I’ve always…wanted to know.”

Another wide smile. Makoto hears the tiny breaths of relief coming from either side of him as he firmly turns Sousuke and directs him away. Sousuke is going much more easily than Makoto thought he would.

"Do you have a gym? Mind if we head there?"

"I — yes — wait —" Sousuke turns his head back, just in time to see Rei show up with the cherry-colored jello.

Makoto brushes his hand across Sousuke’s back, pointing him toward the door again. “I’m glad to have some time with just you,” Makoto says in Sousuke’s ear. His teammates owe him. At the same time, Makoto has the private suspicion that he might owe them.

Sousuke slides his eyes sideways to meet Makoto’s, but this time he’s smiling too. “Hm. Fine. And…probably more fun than stopping whatever it is you weirdos are up to.”

Then Makoto feels the arm gripping him easily across his waist, and he wonders whether he was the one getting scammed all along.

_~_

_Prompt: "I’ll never unsee that."_

It’s been ages since they’ve had their hands on each other. Makoto can barely wait for Sousuke to take off his shirt, and stops him before he can undo the strap to his brace. Makoto runs his fingers gently over it, then drops his mouth to press kisses to the edge of the fabric. Sousuke’s breath hitches, and then he chuckles, sounding winded when he speaks.

"Makoto. Let me take it off, at least…"

Makoto helps, easing the fabric off Sousuke’s muscles, revealing the slightly tender flesh beneath that always, always tears at Makoto’s heart. _I’ll give you such a good life that you’ll never miss swimming again._ He turns toward Sousuke’s neck, kissing softly until Sousuke drops the brace and gets a firm grip on Makoto’s back.

Then it’s on for real. Makoto’s mouth moves across warm skin to find that one place that makes Sousuke’s skin rise in prickles. It’s right on the edge of his trapezius, and when Makoto finds it, he digs his teeth in.

"Hah —" Sousuke gasps, and his nails grip Makoto’s back muscles. They’ve both been hard since the door closed, and now Makoto’s fingers press down against the fly of Sousuke’s pants, finding the heft of his erection through the uniform fabric, squeezing in appreciation.

Which is when Rin opens the door.

Makoto is so into feeling up Sousuke’s erection that he doesn’t even realize it for an instant, but when he notices that Sousuke’s body has frozen, he blinks and looks up… Oh.

"I’ll never unsee that," Rin says flatly, passing his hand over his eyes.

Sousuke pulls Makoto up against him, hiding their erections like the gentleman he is. Amazingly enough, neither one of them stops being hard… “If you keep standing there, you’re going to never unsee a whole lot more,” Sousuke growls.

"I — okay, yeah. Uh." Without completing his thought, Rin closes the door again with Makoto and Sousuke on the more private side of it, and Sousuke’s fingers slide down to begin their own happy exploration as if they hadn’t been interrupted at all.

Makoto can’t help his own laughter, though.

"Hm?" Sousuke’s mouth meets his in a long kiss, licking the laughter right out of him.

When Sousuke finally lets him pull away, Makoto gives him a sheepish grin. “That makes up for so many things I haven’t been able to unsee.”

_~_

_Prompt: Please stay._

It’s the first time Makoto’s visited, and he suddenly understands a lot about Sousuke. There’s his father, silent behind his newspaper, and his mother, cooking so quietly that they all wince when she accidentally drops a spoon. Sousuke slips into the silence as easily as a fish into familiar waters, but it’s uncomfortable as hell for Makoto, especially compared to the buzz of his own house.

They’re silent for hours, it feels, and Makoto thinks he knows why.

At dinner, Sousuke breaks the silence to talk of school, and how they ran into each other again in a physical therapy class, Sousuke pursuing Sports Medicine, Makoto in Education, aiming to become a coach.

His parents are silent still, looking at Makoto’s reddened cheeks.

Finally one of them speaks, Yamazaki-otousan, of course. Yamazai-san’s voice sounds as formal as a samurai, and Makoto braces himself.

"We don’t understand. We still don’t. But we won’t get in your way." Gruff, uncomprehending.

Under the table, Sousuke’s fingers find Makoto’s, holding him tight, holding him in place, an unspoken plea. _Please stay_.

So Makoto takes a breath and firms his resolve, because it’s not just for his own sake that he’s there. He looks up, meeting Yamazaki-san’s eyes and giving him his best quiet smile.

"Someday, you’ll think of us both and feel proud," Makoto says, his chin raised, stubborn as a stone.

Something flashes through Yamazaki-san’s eyes, but then he nods, slowly and carefully.

"Good," Yamazaki-san says.

Makoto can feel Sousuke’s hand clamping his down tightly, sweat on the palm, gratefulness in the fingers.


End file.
